Fated
by Cocologic
Summary: After failing to return with the village's prodigy, they find it as an excuse to have him executed. But as it turns out, Fate has a cruel way of playing with the dead. Now running again in his past, Naruto tries his best to live life as it was before...easier said then done. Slight AU/Time-travelings.
1. Back and Again

A/N: I've had this sitting on my account for a while now...and finally decided to take it off, rewrite it, and now posting it again. Hopefully, this time I can get around to actually getting this thing going.

Edit: 4.7.13

Disclaimer: All rights reserved by Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

Dawn broke across the blue skies in the beautiful village of Konohagakure. A new day has arrived and the early birds were already chirping their merry tune oblivious to the vendors setting up on the buzzing streets below. Everything is as it should be.

Of course, that is too good to be true. After today, nothing will ever be the same again.

Citizens of Konoha, large and small, gather at the very core of the village right before the sun reaches its peak signaling for many of those that the time was almost up. The Hokage tower, the building that house the strongest person in the entirety of the village, looms over the people gathering in front as they turn their attention to the locks of blond swaying with the wind as the man slowly trudge onto the wooden stage towards his ill fate.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto. Rank: Chūnin. Age: 15. Dreams for the future: To become the next Hokage. Reason for execution: Failure to bring back one Uchiha Sasuke.

Now why wasn't the almighty Hokage of the village there to stop this event from happening since she was known to have a very close, almost familial relationship with the young man you ask?

A simple answer really: She isn't present in the village. The only woman to obtain the role of village leader was away on a diplomatic trip to Sunakagure to negotiate a new trade term and someone more sinister took that chance in his own vulgar hands.

That man is none other than Danzo: a man whose more evil than evil itself behind his walking crane, which indicates age, and bandaged covered body, that spoke of unmentionable skills. Since in the Shinobi world, if you have lived to become that wrinkly and wrecked, you've 'oughta be somewhat pretty good.

Taking the opportunity when it came on a silver platter, Danzo took the chance as soon as the thorn in his side left, plead the civil council to rid the world of the blond menace whose mere presence could endanger the entire village.

His execution will take place at noon and noon came all too soon. Naruto knew that one day, this day, would have eventually come.

He couldn't bring back his best friend and rival. He couldn't save him from the evil clutches of Orochimaru. He couldn't save Sasuke from himself. He couldn't keep the promise he made to Sakura all those years ago. And all these years and dedication he puts toward getting stronger and bringing back his only _brother _all put to waste.

It was probably for the best if they got rid of him. The failure. Dead last. Loser. They don't need him. Konoha was better off without this demon prisoner attracting unwanted attention to the village, like the Akatsuki. No one is going to remember him once he's gone. Everyone will just go on with their lives as his comes to an end.

A pair of chakra constrictors bound his hands together. Even if he tried, Naruto wouldn't be able to call upon his limitless source of chakra to break free.

Wasn't it ironic? Chakra, the pure essence of all life in this world, was taken from him by the chains upon his wrists, cutting him off from his limitless powers, cutting him off from life.

Naruto looked into the crowd as he was led up to the stage by an ANBU whose mask was something that he have never seen before. Every eyes his met with leered and glared dangerously at him. They wanted him dead.

_Well they're getting what they want now,_ he thought bitterly as he let out an undignified snort.

As his eyes scanned along the large crowd, most, being civilians, calling out for his blood, until his blue pools landed upon the small group of people that he had the privilege to call his friends.

Their distressed eyes stared back at him. Everyone was there. His sensei, Sakura, team 8, team 10, and even team Gai. Everyone who he cherished was there. Even that crazy proctor lady, who was in charge of the second portion of his ever first chūnin exam back when he was twelve.

It was great to see them, even in this unfortunate situation. He had just got back from an A-ranked mission when the Council summoned him. That was when his fate was sealed, as his friend Neji used to say, as they read his decree. If only someone else was there to see him take his last breath.

Naruto closed his eyes as an ANBU, roughly shoved into a kneeling position, facing the anticipating crowd. He could hear the cries of his friends as they screamed and fight for his survival only to be held back by other ANBU black-ops. He could also hear the cheers that were starting to give birth all around him as his story was coming to an end.

He opened his cerulean eyes one last time to look up at the clear blue sky above his head as the innocent nimbus clouds gently drift by.

So this was why Shikamaru loved to watch the clouds so much. It was so nice, beautiful even. If only he could have more time to enjoy every bit of the wide ocean above him, but time was something that he will not have after this.

His eyes drifted to the Hokage Mountains that loomed before him. His only dream will die along with his depleting life. He had only wished he could see Tsunade-baachan and the fond, but pervert Ero-sennin one last time before his eyes closed for the last time in his life.

"It's time." The hoarse voice of Danzo called out to the villagers as everyone silenced in anticipation of what is about to occur with the exception of the cries that came from Sakura and the others.

Danzo turned to glare at the young man kneeling behind him, "Any last words _demon_?"

"Yeah...I just want to say...you can go fuck yourself." Naruto spat as he foxily grinned back at the shocked man who turned red with anger as he quickly backhanded Naruto causing him to lose balance and slammed against the wooden stage.

His grin was still intact though as they yanked him up again by his blond locks and Naruto glared back at the war mongrel while spitting the fresh blood pooling in his mouth at Danzo's feet.

"Off with his head," Danzo cried in anger as he slowly hobble off the stage, slamming his wooden cane with each step.

"_Well this is it for me,"_ Naruto thought as he kept his signature grin on his face for those to witness one last time. _"Though it's too bad the stupid fox couldn't be here to shriek at me one last time for getting us killed. The surprising part is that I'll miss his stupid cries."_

Then the blade came down.

* * *

Inside of Naruto's seal, another being was enraged with the event.

Because of the constrictors, Kurama's connection with his ward was disconnected. All his angry cries and roars went unheard behind his cage as he watches the stupid human closed his eyes for the final time, causing the room to tremble around him, signaling the end of his host's life.

All because of this stupid human that now, he has to die along with him! HE was the Kyūbi for crying out-loud! He was the strongest of all the bijū! Now he has to die a pathetic death with the _human_.

Suddenly Kurama felt a strong bolt of what seems like electricity ran through his chakra construct body. He felt something pulling at him as he turned around to see the arms of the Shinigami wrapped around two of his tail once again.

The horrendous face slyly grinning back at him as if mocking him of his weakness.

"NO!" The Kyūbi roared as he used some of his tails to grab hold of the tainted bars of the cell, not caring that if he does, his body would start deteriorating, desperately trying to reach the cursed paper seal and break free.

If he could somehow rip that damn piece of paper off the doors to the cell then he wouldn't have to die along with his pathetic host!

His claws reached for the innocent paper, ignoring the sheer pain as the bars burned away at his flesh. He was so close! Only a few more inches and he would be free!

The tugging got stronger and another large shock erupted within Kurama, causing him to let of the steel pillars and dragged away from the tiny paper that is keeping him away from his freedom, away from bring down the rest of the stupid village that caused him to be trapped in here for fifteen agonizing years.

The Kyūbi's eyes grew wide as he felt his strength giving in and his body growing weaker and weaker with each tug from the Shinigami behind him.

Kurama growled as he continued to resist the death god's grip on his soul. He tried again, pulling against the Shinigami's force with what little energy he had left within him.

He needed to hurry and rip the damn seal off the cage before another shock blasted through his body, sucking up the rest of his powers from him.

With his hind legs' claws painfully dug into the concrete floors to keep him from moving, the rest of his seven tails wrapped around the large poles sustaining the ceiling from collapsing already. His front claws once again reaching for the seal on the door, Kurama forced the last amount of energy he had left to push against his hind legs, which spring him towards the seal, finally ripping it off the large caged doors.

Victory met Kurama's teeth baring grin as he felt the Shinigami's presence fading away and his strength returning to his body. He watched as the large shadowed gates opened before him, signaling his freedom at long last.

The nine-tails beast ferociously grinned as he got up and stride out of the dark prison for the last time. Konoha had better be ready, because now there's one pissed off demon that's coming for her blood.

* * *

Pain was all he felt as Naruto opened his eyes only to quickly close them again as he was bombard with the glaring white walls around him.

_Didn't I die?_ Naruto thought as his mind searched within his memories for answers.

He should be. He _is_. The execution was hours ago...or was it just minutes?

_This must be wherever the dead goes when they die then._

Naruto opened his eyes again, slowly this time; just to be faced to face with bleached white walls again. He looked at his surroundings closely; eyes squinted as if that will let him see further into the abysses, but there was nothing around except for the disturbingly clean white walls.

_For a place to keep the dead, this was one boring area._ Naruto thought, already accepting the fact that he wasn't in the world of the living any more.

**"_Well if this is boring then we can always send you to the Shinigami."_** A voice called out, echoing throughout the bleached room.

Surprised, Naruto abruptly turned around, only to stop half way as a burning pain shot through his body as his neck throbbed in agony. His hands immediately flew to his neck in efforts to cool the pain down when he felt a thin line rung around it.

**"_HEY NOW! Don't do that! You don't know how long it took me to just find that stupid head of yours and attached it back on to your body! If that thing rolls off, I don't know how long it'll take for me to put it back on again! Dear Kami I don't want to know what he'll do to me if he finds out!"_** The voice panicked.

"WHO ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU, YOU BASTARD?" Naruto shouted grimacing a little as smaller shots of pain ran through his body again while glaring at nothing in particular. "SHOW YOUR FACE YOU COWARD!"

**"_Geez you don't have to be so mean about it. Now why am I helping this kid again? Oh right the favor to that _man_."_**

This voice was starting to annoy Naruto as he continued glaring at the strange entity that he couldn't see or feel. "Who are you and why am I here?" Naruto asked irritation laced in his words. He could be enjoying the afterlife right now if it wasn't for this stupid voice.

**"_Why are you here...Actually that's a very good question! Why are you here?"_**

Naruto's left eye twitched.

_**"OH! Now I remember. Uzumaki Naruto! You're here because I lost a bet…uhh…actually, 'cause you're one lucky fella! You're here because as deities of the holy**_** world_—_**Naruto snorted_—__**w**_**_e're granting you another chance at life! We figured it was too early for you to die and agreed to send you back in time to you know…prevent you from coming _here _again."_**

This time Naruto's eyes shot up at the surprising news. "What do you mean another chance?"

**"_I'll be sending you back to the land of the living…you know to live?"_**

"Wait a second! Are you actually telling me you're going to send me back in time?" he wondered.

**"_Yup that's what I said!"_**

"What's the catch?" Naruto peered suspiciously at the white wall in front of him. If anyone else could see him, they'd probably assume he's insane just from first look. Seriously, who talks to a wall? Even he would claim that he have gone insane if he could look at himself right now.

**"_There's no catch! I think..." _**the voice whispered the last portion, which, lucky for the being, Naruto didn't catch.

It was tempting offer really although a bit sketchy. Who in the right mind would just give a person such a great proposal without anything in return?

"Alright fine...When do I go?" Naruto nodded, internally reassuring himself that he had made the right decision.

_Maybe this time around, I can actually change things and keep that Sasuke-teme from leaving, _Naruto thought to himself about the prospect of going back in time.

**"_Right now."_**

Was the only warning Naruto received before suddenly feeling a strong pull on his body and the bleach whites walls of the room started to fade away. Another shot of pain flew through his body as he closed his eyes. The last thing he heard before he slipped into the unconscious world was something like **_"Just don't..." _**from the weird voice before finally passing out.

Just don't...what?

* * *

A warm breeze tickled the side of his face, calling out for him to come back to the land of the living.

As much as waking up sounds good about now, the futon was too comfortable for Naruto to even imagine leaving the cushion.

_Wait something's not right here,_ Naruto thought as his hand felt the soft furniture beneath him. _When has my bed been this comfortable?_

With a quick jolt, Naruto sat up all too quickly causing blood to pool to his head and a headache rising. Wincing, Naruto brought his hand to his aching head in an effortless motion to lessen the throbbing pain.

As the begin pain resides, Naruto finally opened his eyes to analyze his surroundings and figure out where he was.

Feeling an ache on his neck, Naruto brought his hand up to ease the pain when he felt a piece of cloth where skin should have met skin.

"Ah you've woken up," a gruff voice called to him. "Scared us for a moment there Naruto…we thought something was seriously wrong when you drop unconscious like that right in the middle of our mission."

Naruto turns toward the direction where the voice came from and came face to face with a middle-aged man with weird silver hair and his face fully covered saved for his right eye that curved in mirth.

"Do I know you?"

* * *

**"**_**Hm…maybe I should have mentioned it to him…nahhhhh." **_The voice said to itself as it disappears back into the abysses.


	2. Re-introduction

A/N: I want to apologize to you guys who are taking your time out to read this muse of mine, for my grammatical errors. English is and will always be my second language, and as you can probably tell, I'm not that great of a writer (I write for fun not for money). Now as I had promised in my profile page–here's the next installment of Fated. Enjoy.

Edit: 4.8.13

Disclaimer: All rights reserved by Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

"Naruto I'm going to ask you one more time…do you know who I am?" the man with the weird mask from before questioned the glaring blond child sitting before him.

_That glare...does not belong on his face._ Kakashi though as he took his time to assess the young ninja who claims to not know his own genin team.

"Seriously Naruto-baka! Stop playing dumb already! It's not funny you know!" screeched a girl who looks about his age with strawberry pink locks and emerald eyes.

"I keep telling you old man…I don't know who the heck you are! And would you stop screeching already you annoying girl?" Naruto snapped with some irritation laced in his words.

Sakura flinched back as if his words reached out and swiped at her being. What happened to the loud-mouthed blond who, just hours before, bugged her for a date?

_Who were these weird people,_ Naruto thought trying to sort out his memories and figuring out what happened to him.

Unconsciously bringing his hand to the cloth on his neck, Naruto looked around the small traditional room and took in his surroundings for the first time since he had woken up.

It was a simple place really, barely any decorations or furniture to boast about. There's the single futon in the middle of the tatami flooring that he was currently occupying, shoji doors which probably leads to the rest of the house, the open window letting the breeze fly in (it smells a bit salty and somewhat fishy and was that the sound of sea?).

As for those occupying the tiny space, there was him and the three people who would not mind their own business, kept insisting that he knows them, and won't leave him alone to think.

There was that strange-looking ojisan with the single eye...if it wasn't for the hitai-ate slanted across what he believed was the other eye; Naruto would have assumed that the man was a pirate and not a ninja.

The girl with the pink hair who just won't stop screaming and trying to pop his eardrums out. His headache was already a problem enough not to mention the dull ache around his neck; she did not need to cause any more damage for him to deal with.

Then there was the last member of the group. Quiet and somewhat broody, the boy about his age was leaning against the side frame of the shoji doors watching him with calculating dark eyes.

_He looks familiar_, Naruto thought trying to put the face with a name.

Turning his attention back to the two who've been the most vocal ones out of the three so far, Naruto gave them a once over before finally deciding his next move.

"What happened to me? What caused me to forget you guys?" Naruto questioned as he looked back down at his hands and checking his body for any more damage while trying not to strain his neck any further. He really needs a mirror at this point.

"That's what we're trying to find out," the mask shinobi replied. "Do you remember who you are?"

"Yeah," Naruto shrugged a bit annoyed at such an offhand answer, "the name's Uzumaki Naruto and who are you people?"

"What do you remember exactly?" the man asked again avoiding the question all together.

"Nothing! I don't remember anything at all! All I remember was seeing a white wall then it turned black and that's it!" Naruto almost yelled out in frustration, at himself for forgetting everything and for these strange people for not answering his questions. Where can a guy go to get some answers around here?

"Uchiha Sasuke," a low voice broke out after the desperate cry.

Turning towards the owner of the voice, Naruto swore in his head for almost forgetting about the third member; who could blame him, the guy hasn't even spoken a single word until now.

"Huh?"

"Usuratonkachi," the boy now identified as Sasuke scoffed, "my name is Uchiha Sasuke."

"Shut up teme!" Naruto automatically replied to the insult directed at him.

_Where did that come from,_ Naruto thought taken aback by the sudden fond tone behind the batter between the two male.

"Don't call Sasuke-kun that! And my name's Haruno Sakura," the only female in the room said following Sasuke's example to introduce herself.

"Ne let's not fight shall we?" The older male said as his form relaxed unbeknownst to the genins in the room. "I'm your jōnin sensei Hatake Kakashi, Naruto-kun."

"Eh okay...well it seems you guys already know who I am...so could someone tell me what happened to me? From the beginning please?" The blond boy wondered, eyes wondered from face to face now that he had the names to follow.

As on cue, Sakura began, with a few comments here and there from the guy Sasuke–_hah, more like grunts–_and their weird teacher Kakashi–_is that porn?–_from the point where they were put together into genin teams of three after graduating from the academy–_Huh...Iruka-sensei? Somehow, I feel like I was much closer to this person than I think–_to their bell test, and finally how they had received their first C-rank mission that turned A-rank, which would explain where he was, but...

"Well that was good and all, but what I want to know now is what happened to me?" Naruto edged on.

"I'M GETTING THERE!" The only female in the room shouted, huffing in irritation for being interrupted in the middle of her speech unaware of the guys all flinching back from the sheer volume of that outburst.

"Where was I...oh right, we were in the middle of the tree-walking exercise when Sasuke-kun noticed you falling from your tree," Sakura went back to explaining. "At first we thought you would have just landed on your feet, but when you kept falling at an alarming rate towards the ground. Luckily, Sasuke-kun was fast enough to get to you before you crashed to the floor and gotten really hurt."

Turning towards the said teen, Naruto gave him once over before sending a nod his way and the gesture was courteously returned.

"Now could you tell us anything you remember Naruto-kun?" Kakashi inquired without even glancing up from his little orange book. "We might be able to put together the clues to figure out what happened to you."

Automatically, the Uzumaki's face scrunched up in concentration, digging through his limited memories to come up with something, anything to help shed light on his problem.

_Pain was all he felt as Naruto opened his eyes only to quickly close them again as he was bombard with the glaring white walls around him._

"Nothing much...just some blinding white walls...?" Naruto ended sounding unsure himself when he just received blank and curious looks on him.

"_Do you have someone who is important to you?" The girl asked as she continued to pick the herbs that were around them."When a person has something important to protect, that's when they can truly be strong."_

_What the_—Naruto thought as a memory, or what seems to be a fragment of a memory hit him—_who was that?_

"_Is this the first time you have seen a precious person die?" The masked shinobi directed the question at him while crouching low on the ground with his weapons bare and ready to take action. "This is what it means to be a shinobi."_

Suddenly a terrible pain shot through Naruto's head and his hands automatically went up to cradle the cranium, eyes shut, as a bloodcurdling scream came out of his mouth.

"AUGHHHH..."

The rest of Team 7 rushed towards the bedridden boy with shouts of concern aimed towards said boy, but nothing registered in his mind and he continued to cry out, as the pain got worst.

Naruto flicked open a single eye, but nothing seemed clear. Colors were blending together, shapes becoming nothing than unrecognizable figures. Finally, the pain became too much for the young ninja as he fell back into the darkness.

* * *

_This is very concerning,_ the elder man thought with a frown marring his face as he re-read the letter that was sent to him hours earlier.

Missions that have been fed false information and thus put into the rankings where they did not belong were not uncommon in the ninja communities. Sure, it rarely ever happens, but they still occur nonetheless.

The fact that the Hokage had recently sent a group of just-out-of-the-academy on a C-turned-A rank mission was somewhat unnerving, but the highly respected man trusted one of his best jōnin to be able to protect his newly assigned students of a little over 6 months and finish the mission.

No, the mission was not what worried the sixty-eight years old the most. What worries him is the uncertainty of _what_ had happened to a certain blond-haired pre-teen on said mission.

Sitting up from his office chair, Sarutobi Hiruzen winced as the sounds of his old bones groaning at the mere movements, took out a blank scroll from the side draw of his desk, and started writing.

"_Jiraiya-kun please rid yourself of this scroll as soon as you finished reading its contents. I must request that you return to the village immediately after you have finished whatever business you may currently be working on. There is an emergency regarding _Fox_..."_

* * *

The room was once again plunged into silence after the last episode that had them all panicking as they watched their teammate cry desperately in pain while not knowing what to do to help.

Each person was in their own thoughts as their eyes, some very obvious, some professionally concealed, laid on the usually blond ball of joy who once again became unconscious and unaware of the world.

"Kakashi-sensei" Sakura begin, turning to look at their teacher, catching the attention of the man mentioned, and then her eyes flickering back to the unconscious body of her teammate.

"Yes Sakura-kun?" The seasoned jōnin inquired, encouraging her to continue her sentence.

Hesitating a bit as if trying to find the best way to word her next sentences, Sakura chewed her lips a bit before continuing, "...what are we going to do with Naruto-kun? He's been out for 3 days now and tomorrow's the deadline for when you told us that Zabuza would be back for Tazuna-san..."

"Ah, don't worry about it Sakura-kun. When we leave tomorrow to guard our client, I'll be leaving behind one of my summons to watch over Naruto-kun." Kakashi smiled at the girl, or at least it looked like he was smiling, as he watched the girl—and Sasuke—visibly relaxed at his reassurance of their third member's safety. Ah such cute little genins.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door that caught the attention of the three conscious patrons in the room then Tazuna's, their client, daughter Tsunami poked her head in. "Sensei, dinner's ready."

"Thank you Tsunami-san," Kakashi said nodding to the matriarch of the family before turning towards his remaining students and ushering them out of the small room, "come on kids, out."

Just as Kakashi was closing the door behind him, he missed the bandages around Naruto's neck starting to glow an eerie white.

* * *

_Where am I?_ Naruto thought, as he looked around the dark void that surrounded him.

"Hello?" He called out. "Is anyone there?"

"_Get away from that _thing_ Kosuke!"_

Turning sharply towards the direction of the voice, Naruto witnessed a scene played out before him. Something in the back of him mind tells him that he had seen it somewhere before.

_A woman grabbing her child and pulled him away from a blond-haired boy whose hands were holding out a red ball that the other child had dropped earlier._

"_But momma! M'ball!" The boy about the age of five whined as he tried to pull away from his mother to go back and retrieve his toy from the blond kid about his age._

"_Kosuke! I'll buy you a new one! I don't want you to be anywhere near that _demon_ child," the woman hissed as she kept her grip around her son, missing the pained look flashing across the said child's face as he stood in his spot beside the abandoned swing set with the toy still clutched between his chubby hands._

_Suddenly the woman looked up from her struggling child and directly at..._

_She's looking directly at me!_ Naruto thought in alarm as he stared back incredulously into the woman's glaring eyes. _What the fuck?_

Tearing his attention away from the two in front of him, Naruto searched around for the blond five-year-old, but the child was nowhere to be seen. The only people present was him, the mother, and her kid.

Then something red caught the corner of his eyes.

Eyes widen even more; Naruto saw the red ball that was held in the arms of the missing kid earlier now cradled in the palm of his hands.

_What the hell is going on here!_ Naruto thought as he dropped the ball and took a few steps back from the offending object as if it had left burnt marks on the male's hand. Naruto quickly gathered himself together and turned his attention back to the parent and her child, but they had already disappeared like the blond child earlier, leaving him once again stranded in the dark.

Panic rose through his being, but Naruto quick squashed it down when he suddenly started hearing whispering sounds surrounding him.

"Hello!" Naruto called out once again into the void, trying to locate the origin of the voices. "Who's there? Answer me!"

The voices slowly became louder and more clear like they were coming towards him.

"_Demon!"_ A voice hissed at him.

"What?" Naruto stumbled back in fright as he continued to frantically search for where the voices were coming from.

"_Monster!"_

"No..."

"_Murderer!"_

"No I'm not..."

"_You killed my family!"_

"No I didn't! That wasn't me!" Naruto panicked, eyes wide with fear as he felt the anger directed towards him.

"_Give me back my child!"_

"No please!" Naruto begged not even noticing the tears that began to run down his marked cheeks. "It wasn't me! I didn't kill anyone!"

"_You're a demon...NARUTO!"_

Whimpering, Naruto crouched down into a fetal position where he was standing with his hands covering his ears and his eyes shut trying to will the voices to leave him alone. "Leave me alone! I'm not a demon! I would never kill anyone!"

"_Naruto!"_

"Stop it! Stop calling my name!"

"_Naruto!"_

"SHUT UP! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"_Naruto!"_

"_Naruto..."_

"_...WAKE-UP!"_

* * *

The night before the expected confrontation with Zabuza, Team 7 and Tazuna's family of three sat around a humble dinner of fish, miso soup, and pickled vegetables served with small portion of rice. This was the most luxurious dinner they have had in the week they have stayed with the bridge builder and his family. Most of the time, the dinner consists of only small fishes caught that day either by Kakashi or Sasuke and rice porridge. Tazuna wasn't lying when he said that his village and even him were in a major financial crisis and were in desperate need of the bridge.

"Hey...is that kid...your teammate...what's his name...Naruto?" Tazuna began, breaking the silence and gaining the attention of the three members of Team 7 and the rest of his family. "Is he going to be alright?"

"Yes, thank you for your concern Tazuna-san." Kakashi nodded towards the man, while dismissing the looks he was receiving as the people around him wondered how he had miraculously finished his portion of the dinner without anyone noticing him pulling off his mask.

"Oh thank goodness," Tsunami exclaimed with a relieving smile on her face as she continued to eat.

"Why..."

Everyone turned their attention towards the only child in the room who had abandoned his dinner.

"What's wrong Inari-kun?" His mother asked, concerned laced in her words as she started to reach out towards her son.

"Why are you guys doing this?" Inari asked looking up directly at Team 7 from where he had observed his dangling feet deep in thought.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked knowing that neither of her remaining teammates would speak up.

"...why'd you guys bother trying so hard? You're all just gon'na die when you go again' Gatō and his men." The young boy stated as he glared at the ninjas from across the table, ignoring the gasp from his mother.

"Inari! Apologize to our guests right this instance!" Tsunami shouted at the boy who turned his attention from the leaf-nins to his mother.

"Why? They're all just gon'na die mom!" Inari exclaimed as if it was a matter of fact. "No one can defeat Gatō! There's no such thing as heroes!"

"...Naruto would disagree..." a deep voice stated, removing the attention from the mother and son and onto the Uchiha male.

"What...?"

"Naruto would be screaming in your face right now disagreeing with what you just said," Sasuke continued, not looking up from his bowl of miso soup. "He would be hollering at the top of his lungs, telling you that he'll prove that there are such things as heroes."

"What'd you know?" Inari shouted at the dark-haired teen as tears bubbled in the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall at any second. "Heroes don't exist! You people should just go home an' stop trying to play hero for us when you don't even know the pain we've been throu'!"

"At least we're trying to fight for your village and not hiding from our problems like a coward you are," Sasuke scowled as he glared at the shocked boy directly across from him. At that, Inari got up from his seat and ran towards the stairs.

"Inari!" Tsunami cried also getting up from her seat running after her son.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed shocked from what her teammate just said to the eight-year-old kid no matter how right he was.

"I must apologize for Inari's rudeness," Tazuna sighed rubbing his head to ease the oncoming migraine. "He wasn't like that three years ago when his father was still alive...ah the hero of this village as he was known."

"What happened to him Tazuna-san?" Sakura asked softly, bracing herself for what's to come.

Tazuna began retelling the story of Kaiza-san, the hero who became like a real father to Inari, who taught the kid the meaning of courage, and was the symbol of salvation for the small fishing nation of Nami no Kuni against the crime lord Gatō. After sometime, Gatō decided that he have had enough of Kaiza getting in the way of his plans and executed the village hero in front of the entire nation and his son, Inari. The execution had the effects that the shipping magnate wanted—fear implanted in the hearts of the people, ensuring that there would no longer be any attempts of rebelling against him. Now if Tazuna were to finish the building the bridge that would link Nami no Kuni to Hi no Kuni, then the control that Gatō had over the country would diminish.

As if on cue, when Tazuna finished explaining to the Konoha ninjas the story behind the villagers' fear and Inari's bitterness, a terrifying cry rang throughout the house that came from Naruto's room.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted jumping from her seat after her two teammates who were already rushing towards the direction of the blond ninja.

As the ninjas bolted into the room, high on alert for enemy ninjas, they relaxed a bit seeing as Naruto was the only person in the room. Their relaxation was short-lived when another cry came from Naruto whose eyes were squeezed shut with tears spilling over and his arms wrapped around his body.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, trying to make a move at her teammate, but was stopped by her sensei.

"Naruto!" Kakashi called out moving towards the shaking teen with the fluidity of a seasoned shinobi.

As he reached out to touch the boy, Naruto's next scream caused him to take a step back.

"SHUT UP! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Naruto!"

"Naruto WAKE UP!"


	3. And We Meet Once More

A/N: For anyone confused about the time frame from before Naruto's death to when he's 'reborn', here is the breakdown:

Pre-death (After original time-skip): Age 15, Rank: Chūnin (Obviously not canon)

Post-death (Sent back in time): Age 12, Rank: Genin

Fell unconscious on the 2nd day after they had brought back Tazuna (Remember, the 1st day was when Kakashi first woke up and told the genins that they had about a week to prepare before Zabuza strikes again)

Woke up on the 3rd night then fell unconscious again from memory assaults

Woke up for good this time on the 6th night (Canon: same day that he was supposed to have met Haku in the forest that morning/Fanfic: woke up the night before Zabuza's return, so he did not meet Haku in this 'life')

Don't forget that Naruto lost all of his memories, so he does not remember anyone at all from The Hokage to someone like Tazuna. Neither does he remembers how he acted like (in canon), so he's a bit different (more reserved, quiet, and observant) than the Naruto we all know.

The reason why I portrayed Naruto as such is because I really believe that he is a very smart kid. Hell he mastered the Rasengan, stated by Jiraiya that even the Fourth took months until he actually got the technique down, in a week. With the goofy, 'I'm going to become Hokage, bring back Sasuke, and take over the world' (Not really the last part) attitude gone, I believe he's truly showing his potential.

Edit: 4.14.13

Disclaimer: All rights reserved by Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

Kakashi and Sakura tried desperately to wake Naruto who seems to be having an extremely horrible nightmare of some sort that is making him lash out at everything around him. Having had enough, Sasuke quickly pushed pass his two teammates, feeling their eyes upon his back following his every move, up to the blond boy and grabbed his trembling shoulders. Sasuke winced as Naruto latched onto his exposed arms and dug his nails into the male's flesh still with his eyes shut tight, but there were more important matters at hand than his fresh injuries.

"Naruto...WAKE UP!" Sasuke yelled, shaking Naruto hard, which seemed to have done the trick because familiar blue eyes, though a bit gazed over, were now staring back into ebony ones.

"Wah...Sasuke?" Naruto asked unconsciously letting go of his hold on Sasuke, not noticing the look of relief appearing on the Uchiha's face, and latched onto his throbbing neck. "Ugh...wha…what happened?"

Kakashi's eye went towards his blond student's neck where his hands were currently rubbing to ease the pain and looked on with suspicion. Had Naruto always worn his hitai-ate there? Had it not always been on his forehead? "Naruto...does it hurt?"

"Eh yeah...it doesn't really hurt, but there's like a dull ache," Naruto spoke, his voice coarse since he just woke up, hands still massaging his neck through a piece a cloth, which he figured was his hitai-ate since his fingers had grazed the piece of metal a few times when he tried to ease the pain. It was also because these strangers, his 'teammates' all had one too, so he just puts two and two together.

"Show me."

Kakashi walked up to Naruto and helped the boy pry open the cloth from around his neck. Peering at unveiled flesh, Kakashi's single eye narrowed even further at what he discovered. The pre-teens around him watched him closely, waiting anxiously for their sensei to speak up and tell them what is wrong with Naruto. After a few agonizing minutes, the single-eyed man turned to the blond he had just inspected, and gave him a smile through his masked face.

"There's nothing wrong with you Naruto-kun. Your neck looks alright to me." Kakashi told Naruto, watching as his student visibly relaxes as his hands reached up to touch his neck again.

_I wonder if this has anything to do with the Kyuubi_, the man thought as he eyed his student's spotless neck, which was now covered once again by the Konoha hitai-ate, _better report this to the Hokage_.

"Alright Sakura-kun," Kakashi said turning to the girl, "could you go downstairs and ask Tsunami-san if she can make Naruto-kun some soup, he must be hungry by now." Right on cue, Naruto's stomach growled causing the boy to blush and laughed as he scratched the back of his head dismissing the embarrass display of hunger. The rest of his team just smiled or smirked back at the Uzumaki. At least their teammate is still the same loving idiot, with or without his memories.

Just as Sakura was about to leave the room to carryout her orders, Naruto spoke up. "Um...I would like to go downstairs to eat with you guys as well." Naruto started, fidgeting a bit under the gaze of the other three. "I've been asleep for who knows who long now and I...I just want to get out of this room and maybe get to know you guys? I don't know...maybe, just maybe it would help me regain some of my memories?"

"Sure Naruto-kun," Kakashi smiled at the younger teen, "that's probably best. We wouldn't want your muscles to deteriorate any further because of inactivity."

As Kakashi went to Naruto's right, he slightly nudged Sasuke who took the hint and took the left. At once, both men grabbed Naruto's arms and swung them over their shoulders to give him support, so that the boy could attempt to stand. Although with uneven heights supporting him on either side, Naruto slowly lifted himself out of bed and started wobbling towards the opened door where Sakura was waiting.

When Team 7 finally made it the dining room, Tazuna's family was already back in their seats eating with Inari sniffling here and there.

"Hey brat, you're finally awake huh?" Tazuna slurred, face flushed from alcohol.

"Uh...yeah...I'm sorry if what I'm go'na say next is rude, but who are you people?" Naruto asked, trying to regain his baring. Who would've thought that merely walking downstairs from the bedroom he was occupying to the dining room would be so tasking.

"Hah? What are you talking about you dumb brat?" Tazuna looked incredulously at the blond who began to glare at the old drunk. Screw being polite to the elders.

"Ah," Kakashi started scratching at his chin with his free hand in amusement, "We forgot to inform you that Naruto-kun here has lost all of his memories. Under my orders, he is currently put of commission and will not be joining us tomorrow when we escort you to the bridge Tazuna-san."

"Oh dear, will he be alright sensei?" Tsunami asked, worried written plainly on her face while even Inari stopped his sniffling to stare at Naruto.

Kakashi smiled at the woman, "Ah ah, he'll be alright Tsunami-san. Actually, if you could whip up some porridge for him since he has not eaten any proper food for a while now that would be much appreciated. I don't think he can handle solid food yet until his body starts to function normally again."

"I think I can make something really quick." Tsunami nodded with relief that the blond teen would be all right. It just did not seem right for someone, whom she remembered meeting the first day when Team 7 brought back her father, so energetic like a ball of sunshine, to be so quiet, reserved, and just like himself. Getting up, Tsunami went into the kitchen to prepare some rice porridge with some of the leftover fish.

* * *

After dinner, Naruto, with the assistance of his newly obtained crutches that apparently Kakashi-sensei had also used days before, went for a breath of fresh air on the deck behind the house that overlooks the sea. He thought about the dinner he just had earlier with his teammates and the Nami no Kuni citizens. It was fun although a bit awkward with the Tazuna and his family not really knowing what to say around him since they found out he had lost his memories of everything including them who had met before his temporary coma.

His coma; it was a mystery that he wants to find the answers to. Why had he fallen unconscious in the middle of training like Sakura had told him? What caused him to forget all of his memories? He really wants to remember all the people whom he was close with before he lost all of his memories. He could see the awkwardness that his current situation is putting his teammates in. They didn't know how to act around this 'new' him, and frankly, Naruto didn't know how to act around the people who claims to be his teammate and, thus in his mind, something like a family to him. He had an inkling feeling that he did not have a family waiting for him at 'home' in Konoha.

The thoughts of his 'home' and of Konoha had Naruto feeling more desperate to try to find a way to get his memories back. From the stories that Sakura had told him over dinner, along with some inputs here and there from Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei, he tried to image the place that was his home. In his mind, Konoha was a beautiful village filled with vegetations, as indicated by its name Konohagakure (The Village Hidden in the Leaf). He'd imagined there would be many ninjas of all ranks jumping from rooftops to rooftops trying to get to their destinations. At first when he had figured out that he was a ninja as well, obviously with the hitai-ate around his neck and the people who claimed to be his _genin_ team, he was taken aback by the absurd choice of clothing that _he_ had chosen to wear before his memory loss. However, after some consideration, Naruto had to agree that his _former _self was a genius! I mean who in the right mind would take an _orange-clad_ teenage _ninja_ seriously in battles. His opponents would underestimate him, which he really needed to recover soon so that he could test to see where his level was since his coma, and it would lead them to their downfall. He could also blend in with civilians and no one would suspect him to be a ninja if he took off his headband. Ah deception, it's the first key to being a ninja.

Naruto closed his eyes to feel the sea breeze brush his exposed skin and let his senses go when he felt another presence near. _Sensei?_

"Um Sensei, you can come out," Naruto spoke with his eyes still closed to the world around him, "there's no need to hide since I can sense you crouching on the other side of the roof."

With his eyes closed, Naruto did not see the mix of emotions quickly flashed across Kakashi's semi-exposed face went from shocked, amusement, suspicion, and then finally back to stoic. Kakashi flickered down to the boy, orange book opened, acting casually like he had not just been caught observing the same teen he was standing next to. They stood there in silence for some time, neither moving from their spot with Naruto fidgeting here and there when his arms started to go numb from leaning on the wooden crutches.

Finally, one of them decided that the silence had gotten to be too much and broke it.

"Mah...Naruto, pray tell how did you know I was there?" Kakashi asked continuing to 'read' from his erotic novel with his attention focused mostly on his student who had become such a mystery to him all of a sudden. It was as if, the Naruto from before the coma was just a façade to hide his skills and true nature, which is now slowly being exposed after the coma. He needs to revaluate this new Naruto to see where he stands within the ranks of the rest of the newly graduated rookies.

"Eh?" Naruto looked over at his silver-haired sensei with a look that stated 'Well duh, it was pretty obvious.' "Well I just felt your presences? I don't know...I thought it was obvious. It was like you weren't even trying to conceal your chakra from me."

This time, Kakashi did look up from his novel to stare back at his blond student. "Explain."

"Uh...how can I say it...your presences felt as if you were really touching me?" Naruto demonstrated by cautiously reaching out to put his right hand on Kakashi's shoulder while trying to prevent the clutch under his pits from falling. "Like this."

Watching his student retract his hand from his shoulder, Kakashi thought about the new information he had just been told. _Interesting...I wonder..._

"Naruto-kun, tell me, could you feel anything else besides me? Say like Sasuke-kun or Sakura-kun?"

Naruto gave Kakashi a weird look, but complied to the request. He closed his eyes and once again let go of his senses.

"Sasuke's on the second floor in the first room on the left. I think that's a bedroom. As for Sakura, she's on the first floor in the room passed the stairs. She's helping Tsunami-san with the dishes."

"How were you able to distinguish who was who?"

"From their chakra?" Naruto began, his eyes now staring back at Kakashi's lone pupil. "Sasuke had like a rough feel to his, kind of like lightning or something, and Sakura's felt a bit coarse, like when you're playing with dirt."

_Elemental chakra! He's feeling elemental chakra!_

"Naruto, tell me, what does mines feel like?" Kakashi questioned, trying to confirm his theory.

"Yours?" Naruto asked feeling a bit cautious with all of the questions that Kakashi kept throwing at him in the past fifteen to twenty minutes. "Yours felt like a mixture of Sasuke's and Sakura's plus some. Like while it is rough and coarse, it also felt smooth like water and a bit hot like you're radiating heat. Actually now that I think about it, Sasuke's also felt a bit warm, but it wasn't like your 'hot'."

Now if Kakashi had any doubt about Naruto's actual 'potential' before, these new bits of information had him taking back any of those thoughts. How much was he hiding before his coma?

"Sensei?" Naruto wondered, reaching out once again to the man and poked him out of his musing. "Is everything alright?"

"Ah ah," Kakashi nodded, smiling at the boy, "yeah everything is fine. It's getting a bit late now. We should head inside where it's warmer." As if triggered by his words, the wind, with a mix of sea salt, blew a bit harder at the two. "Also Naruto-kun, tomorrow I want you to be at home resting while the team and I are out guarding Tazuna. In case of trouble, I will be leaving behind a clone to watch over."

Feeling a bit insulted that Kakashi thought he needed a clone to keep watch over him, although he knew Kakashi was only concerned for his well being, Naruto opened his mouth to protest. "I may be out of commission with my condition, but I'm a shinobi for a reason sensei. I can take care of myself. There's no need for you to leave behind a clone tomorrow."

Chuckling at the pre-Narutoesque like comment, Kakashi gave into the teen's request and verbally agreed to not leave behind a clone, while planning in his mind to just leave one guarding close to the house in the forest surrounding.

* * *

**Day 7**

That morning, Naruto stood, with the help of his crutches, by Tsunami and her son Inari as they waved to the departing group. Naruto clicked his tongue as his eyes lingered on the jōnin's back a bit irritated, but not mad. He specifically asked him not to leave behind a clone last night, but no he still had to do it and pretend that to notice the slight irritation in radiating off the Uzumaki. Naruto had to hand it to the man though, if he hadn't felt the slight fluctuating in chakra this morning as the result of a technique being utilized, he wouldn't have known that the man had left a clone behind. It was hiding far enough to not be seen by those walking by on the dirt road, but close enough to keep an eye out on the house.

Half an hour after Team 7 minus one and Tazuna left, Naruto could be seen lounging at the kitchen table bored out of his mind. It's one thing to be out of commission, but it's another thing to be out of commission with nothing to do. He tried helping Tsunami-san around the kitchen, but the elder woman just shooed him out claiming that he shouldn't be straining himself or it'll take longer to recover. How is washing the dishes a straining task? Giving up, he tried to find the little kid—_Inari right?_—to see if he wanted to sit around and play cards or talk or something, but the little brat just shut the door in his face.

Thus, it all led to our favorite hero sitting at the dining table with his cheek pressed against the tabletop and staring at the front door in boredom. At first he took the time to recall the 'visions' or whatever they were that he had the first time he had woken up. It was confusing as it was weird. Who was that pretty girl and the shinobi with the mask? When he had woke up this morning, luckily with no more nightmares, the feeling of dread washed throughout his entire body, but he quickly brushed it off as getting up too quick. However, it wasn't long until that feeling came back along with the two visions he had days before when he was watching the departing backs of his team and the bridge builder. It was too late for him to inform them however because by time he came too, they were long gone.

Fifteen to twenty minutes wasted on trying figure out his visions, which only resulted in him getting a slight headache, made the blond give up. It was no use trying to decipher something without other clues to back it up.

Now here he is bored out of his mind and glaring at the front door, wishing that something would burst through it and give him a chance to stretch his muscles.

As if some deity had heard his plea, the solution to his boredom came bursting through the doors in the forms of two largely built men. From the looks of things, they were mercenaries and not shinobis. The two men and Naruto just stared back at one another as they let the shock died down.

"Hey Waraji," the smaller man with the black hat begin addressing his bigger companion, "I don't believe Gatō mentioned the stupid bridge builder had another grandson."

"Of course not Zōri," the older man replied his hand reaching to unsheathe his tachi while Naruto also reached for his kunais on his right thigh unseen by the two thugs. "That's cause this one is one of the ninjas that the old man had hired."

Just before anyone made a move, loud footsteps came from the stairs and Inari emerged. "Mom! I..." Inari stopped short on what he was about to say when he saw two large men with swords on the side of their bodies standing right across from the stupid looking blond ninja.

"MOM!" The boy yelled trying to make a run towards the kitchen to his mother. However, it was just Naruto's luck, the path from the stairs to the kitchen crossed right in front of the men. One of them reached out and grabbed the kid, now holding him above the ground as the kid started crying and screaming to be put down.

"Shit." Naruto cursed when the kid got caught. Now he has to abandon his 'take out kunais and swiftly embed them into the throats of the mercenaries' throats' plan and quickly think of another that include saving the stupid child.

"INARI!" Tsunami yelled. She was walking out of the kitchen to see what was making her son cry when she saw him struggling in the hand of two largely built men standing in front of the broken front door. Just as she was about run towards her son without any plan in mind, she was quickly stopped by Naruto who held up his left crutch.

"Hold up Tsunami-san. If you do that, they'll kill Inari." Naruto calmly told the panicking mother who was about to yell at him to let her go.

"Hah, yeah listen to the cripple woman!" The larger man, Waraji, spoke as he rest his sword on his shoulders. "You wouldn't want there to be an _accident_ with your kid now would you?"

Seeing the smaller mercenary's sword against her trembling son's neck, Tsunami fell to her knees, face filled with fear for her son's life. She didn't want another repeat of her husband's death in front of her eyes.

"Let's go Waraji," Zōri spoke still holding on to the struggling child, "We got what we came for. Gatō only needed one hostage."

"MOMMA!" Inari cried out hearing that the men were going to take him away. _I'm gon'na die!_

"INARI!" Tsunami cried back. "Please! Leave my son and take me instead!"

Mean while the entire time, Naruto kept cursing in his head as he threw out another idea to get rid of the mercs while not injuring the kid. _Where the hell is that clone?_

Just as Naruto was set on a plan, a loud cry came from the direction of the mercenaries and Naruto looked up in time to see Inari biting down on the man's hand that was holding him. As soon as the kid dropped to the floor, Naruto quickly took the opportunity to go back to his first plan and threw his hidden kunais with scare accuracy towards the mercs' neck. They died the instance their bodies hit the ground. Tsunami got up and ran towards her wailing son, gathering him in her arms.

Not taking his chances, Naruto focused his senses on the perimeters of the cottage and sighed in relief when he found no foreign chakra around and only a few civilian chakras, none big enough to be a threat. It struck him odd however, when he didn't feel Kakashi's clone anymore either.

"Thank you so much for saving my son, Naruto-san," Tsunami's voice brought him back from his thoughts. "If you weren't here, I wouldn't know what to do if I really had lost my son."

Naruto became a bit uncomfortable when he stared back at the teary eyed-woman and nervously reached back to scratch the back of his head out of habit. "Ah don't worry about it Tsunami-san. It's my job to protect you guys from danger. Besides Inari-kun did most of the work here."

"Inari, if you didn't distract those men like you did there; I wouldn't have been able to get rid of them." Naruto smiled at the kid. "You helped me save your mother and you. You were very brave."

Inari's face flushed red at the compliment from the ninja who had saved him. Maybe, just maybe, there is such things as a hero.

"Well," Naruto beginning standing up from his seat with the crutches under his arms, "I better head to the where my team is and Tazuna-san. If my hunch was right, then they'll be needing backup."

Just as Naruto was about to leave the premises with the mother and child watching his back as he go, Naruto paused in his step for a bit to turn and look at Inari. "Hey, can I trust you to stay behind and keep you and your mother safe?"

"Yeah!" Inari grinned back.

* * *

**Unfinished bridge**

It was a bit difficult for one Uzumaki Naruto to maneuver through the heavy mist that bathe the large bridge. When he first got there, Naruto was to say impressed at the mere size of the architecture. Even if it wasn't finished, the thing was still massive. He had to hand it to the old drunk. He may not be sober more than half of the time, but he damn sure knows how to build a bridge. Shaking himself out of his own musing, Naruto looked towards the inner most part of the bridge and, not surprised, found that part to be surrounded by a large cloud of mist. His walk towards the battle area was not difficult, but when he finally went into the mist, he almost tripped over a body that was lying face down on the concrete.

Cursing silently in his head, Naruto steadied himself before nudging the body with his crutch to see if the person was still alive. A moan was all he need to confirmed that the person was still alive before Naruto stepped over him and went on his way, carefully making sure not to trip over any more bodies.

Once he got to the heart of the battle, Naruto crouched behind a stack of steel bars to analyze the event that's occurring before him.

Kakashi was facing a man with bandages covering the upper half of his body and wielding a large sword about the size of his body. Sakura, on the other hand, was standing guard in front of Tazuna who Naruto could tell was trembling to the point of almost peeing himself. _Heh civies._

Confirming to himself that those two could handle themselves, Naruto searched a bit to look for Sasuke and found him staring at a large dome made of glass...wait no that's _ice_.

Straining his body a bit to see what's going on in the dome like structure, Naruto made out a person standing over the hunched form of Sasuke with his arms up. Quickly making his decisions, Naruto rushed, as fast as he could with crutches, passed Kakashi and the bandaged face man who both looked up in surprise, to get Sasuke away from the masked shinobi.

Without thinking, Naruto squeezed himself through the cracks between the ice mirrors and launched himself at the shinobi who was about to lodge, what looked like needles, into Sasuke's body. The shinobi dodged Naruto's attack and landed a kick into the boy's stomach, causing him to skid towards Sasuke who came out of his trance just as they collided. The force caused Naruto to also let go of his crutches and one flew out dome while the other landed five feet away from the Konoha ninjas.

"Usuratonkachi! What are you doing here?" Sasuke almost shouted at the blond, disregarding the fact that if the boy did not come in at the time that he did, Sasuke wouldn't be alive anymore.

"Heh," Naruto begin spitting out a bit of blood that pooled in his mouth, "I saved your life teme and this is the thanks I get?"

"Shut up!" Sasuke retorted a bit relieved that his teammate was alright. Neither paid attention to the masked shinobi standing a few feet away from them and observing their exchange. "At least if you wanted to help, you could have stayed on the outside and break the mirrors down. Now we're both stuck in here."

"Whatever!" Naruto started pushing himself up with the help of Sasuke who held his right arm over his shoulder for support. "Now who are we facing..." words lost in the wind as Naruto was struck into silence at the figure in front of him.

"YOU!"


	4. The End of the Wave

A/N: Sorry! I got caught up in birthdays and midterms and now the dreaded finals is coming - It won't be until maybe after the 14th of May when I can freely update again. BUT! I did my best to get this one out in about 2 weeks :D I think that's pretty good for how much that's been going on these days for me. Well the story line may seem to be a bit rushed, but everyone should at least know the plot by now, so I didn't want to waste any more time on the Land of the Wave Arc. Enjoy!

Edit: 4.29.13

Disclaimer: All rights reserved by Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

"YOU!" Naruto yelled his right hand rose to point at the mask shinobi standing before him and Sasuke. "It's you! It's definitely you!"

Naruto's outburst was something the other two male were not expecting at all. "What the heck are you talking about Naruto?"Sasuke asked, giving the boy who is hanging off his arm, literally, a confused look. "...Wait…wait you _remember _him?"

_Remember me?_ The mist ninja thought, looking directly at the new arrival, although no one could tell with his mask still situated on his face.

"No..?" Naruto spoke turning slightly towards Sasuke with a look of confusion on his face as well, while still keeping an eye on the foreign ninja standing just feet away from them. He was a bit curious about why the ninja had not see the need to attack them yet and is allowing them to have their conversation in the middle of the fight. "I mean I do, but I don't?"

"Well what is it Usuratonkachi? Sasuke snapped being careful not to drop his teammate. It was a bit difficult for the Uchiha to support both of their weights with the injuries he had obtain from his earlier scuffle with the fake hunter-nin before Naruto decided to join. Who would have thought that tiny senbons would hurt this _much_?

"Don't call me that teme!" Naruto retorted. Even in the midst of their batter, the two never took their gaze off the mask ninja, who surprisingly had not made a move, yet, content with just curiously watching the blond enigma.

"How do you know me? What does your companion, I presume, mean by remembering me?" The masked-nin questioned Naruto, interrupting their verbal attacks on each other, his head tilting a bit to the side as a gesture to Sasuke and his curiosity of what the Uchiha meant by his earlier comment. "This is the first time we have met."

Before Naruto could shed some light on how he knew the masked ninja, a large burst of chakra suddenly ran through the three teens causing them to look towards the direction from which it came. The battle between the Kopī Ninja no Kakashi and Kirigakure no Kijin was getting deadlier by the second and all three boys had the same thought running through their heads. They needed to finish their battle soon to go assist their respective mentors.

"I'm sorry, but I must finish this battle quickly." The ninja spoke, taking a single step back from the Konoha-nins and melted into the ice mirrors while taking out a few senbons into each hand. "Zabuza-san needs my assistance and I cannot waste my time here any further." He shifted into a battle stance, ready to fire his first wave of senbons at the two genin.

_Shit! _Sasuke thought trying to come up with ways to deal with their enemy at hand. _With Naruto like this and my injuries, we're almost no match for the fake hunter-nin. _Let his eyes wander quickly at their surroundings for some sort of solution, Sasuke spot one of Tsunami-san's clutch a little ways from both of them. _If I get that to Naruto, maybe, just maybe, we can get him out of the dome and to the others._

_WHAT THE HELL?_ Naruto thought as he watched the mist ninja melted—_melted_—into the ice mirror and appearing in all of the others. _What is this some type of genjutsu?_

The last thing the two boys heard before their battle resumed as the senbons rained down on their flesh was a tiny whisper of _"I'm sorry"_.

"ARGH!"

Naruto and Sasuke both fell to the ground panting heavily, since they were still leaning on to one another for support, after having avoided most of the needles from hitting their major organs by shielding them with their backs. If anyone asks, Naruto and Sasuke were definitely NOT hugging each other.

"..Hey Naruto..." Sasuke quietly panted out, trying his best to keep his voice down less risk Haku finding out his plan. "We need to get you out of here."

"What?" Naruto turned to give his teammate an incredulous look, as if the other had a second head growing suddenly, not bothering to keep his voice down. "You're not kicking me out of here!"

"Shush loser!" Sasuke scowled at the idiot for announcing his plan out-loud. Now he was certain that the hunter-nin isn't going to allow either one of them to escape the ice prison. "You'll only be dead meat for me in here. I doubt you even remember any of your ninjutsu and taijutsu is out of the question if you can't even stand on your own!"

Just as Naruto opened his mouth to retort, he thought about what Sasuke just said and he had to reluctantly agree, internally, with the brunette.

"You mentioned ninjutsu and taijutsu, but what about my genjutsu?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the stupidity of that question, but quickly went with the idea that since Naruto couldn't remember a single thing since he had woken up, such as his crazy manipulation of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, he probably doesn't remember how _terrible_ he was with genjutsu.

"Dobe...your genjutsu sucks."

Naruto deadpanned at the bluntness of the answer. At least the teme could have considered his feelings when bluntly informing him of his lack of skills in the genjutsu department of ninja techniques. What the heck has he been doing as a ninja up till now? Ninjutsu is out. Taijutsu can't be done in his physical state. Genjutsu is not even an option. Maybe Sasuke was right...he probably should have stayed on the outside of the ice dome or had tried to at least escape from the dome.

They're doomed.

* * *

_I need to get to the boys._ Kakashi thought frantically after he and Zabuza had witnessed the sight of Naruto wobbling as fast as he could on the crutches—it was an amusing sight if you ask him—towards the direction of Sasuke and the hunter-nin. Sasuke, Kakashi didn't doubt that the boy could handle himself against the Hyōton user—though not without injuries—but now that Naruto added himself to the equation, the battle could escalate quickly in an undesirable direction.

"That blond brat of yours...is he stupid?" Zabuza directed the question to the Kopī ninja whose visible eye never revealed his inner turmoil. "He just ran in the middle of a battle _injured_."

"..."

"...Haku...he's good. Better than me even."

"..."

"...Your brats are good as dead." Zabuza crackled, his teeth shone as he swung his Kubikiribōchō across his shoulders. "I wouldn't try and go to their rescue Kopī-nin Kakashi. You wouldn't want anything to happen to the pink one and the bridge builder would you?"

A tense silence swept the bridge as Kakashi stood eyeing the large man, weighing his limited options in his mind. Just as both ninjas were about to make their move, a loud boom echoed in the direction of the ice dome followed by a loud _"Fuck!"_ coming from a certain blond.

"Ha...haha don't underestimate them Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi spoke monotonously, mirth played across his features as he reached up to uncover the Sharingan. "Sasuke is Konoha's number one graduating rookie of his generation and Naruto...is Konoha's number one most unpredictable, hyper-active ninja!"

"Well, we'll see who'll get the last laugh!" Zabuza growled stabbing his sword into the bridge before announcing his next move "Kirigakure no Jutsu," then disappearing into the thickened mist. "This will be the last time you'll ever show the Sharingan to anyone Hatake Kakashi!"

"Sakura!" Kakashi commanded his eyes still marked on the mist ninja even through the dense air thanks to the help of his Sharingan. Bless Obito's heart.

"Yes Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura answered, whipping her head back around from staring in the direction of the ice dome.

"Be high on alert," the older man warned, fingers looping a kunai in each hand ready to make his move. "With both Naruto and Sasuke fighting the hunter-nin, you're the only one who can protect our client."

Just before Kakashi disappeared into the mist, he turned to give the squinting girl a reassuring smile that was hidden underneath his mask. "I believe in you Sakura." With that, he was gone from sight only to be replaced by sounds of metals clashing.

* * *

"Watch it usuratonkachi!" Sasuke snapped at the blond had the brightest idea to distract the masked ninja by firing a kunai with a Kibaku Fuda wrapped around the hilt at the closest ice mirror. Not only did it not hit the crystal-like object—or at least _bounced_ off the thing—the kunai went _into_ the mirror and back out of another one that was directed at the two Konoha-nins. This led to the explosion and a series of colorful curses as the boys barely dodged the flying projectile.

Well at least in the midst of the entire failed attempt of blowing up their cold prison and hopefully the one who imprisoned them, Sasuke was able to grab a hold of the abandoned crutch and threw it at Naruto. The blond was lucky that he had looked up at the right moment to catch it on time, less he be unconscious by now with a concussion added to the ever-growing list of mysterious injuries.

"You watch it teme!" Naruto yelled back as he slowly stood up with the help of the single crutch. Someone seriously needs to invent a chair with wheels or something for him to move around without using these uncomfortable, pit-hurting sticks. _I know! I'll name it 'the wheelchair'!_

"I could have died if I hadn't caught the crutch on time!"

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed as he also got up and swiftly, as swiftly as he could with his injuries, moved to where his teammate was all the while keeping his eyes on the masked shinobi. "We both know that you're too dumb to die from something like that."

"Yeah you're right," Naruto nodded, also looking up at the shinobi, not paying attention to what was coming out of Sasuke's mouth, "I'm too dumb to...hey wait a minute! Stupid teme! You're too dumb to die!"

"Both of you," Haku started after witnessing their bickering for the nth time since the blond came into the dome, "are very...close to one another aren't you?"

Naruto and Sasuke turned to look at one another, scoffed, and then turned away where they started to fake gagged at the incredulous idea that the masked ninja was sprouting. There is no way that they were close to one another, even if Naruto didn't remember the Uchiha at all from before his mini-coma.

"Enough talk!" Sasuke stated walking slighting in front of Naruto to face the direction his shinobi senses were telling him that the real masked ninja was. "Let's get this over with."

Seeing as Sasuke stood in front of him, Naruto took it as a sign to turn his back to the brunette and swiped a kunai into his unoccupied hand, the one without the crutch. "I got your back Sasuke."

"Hn."

Eyeing the two shinobi from his perch in his family jutsu, Haku acknowledged the trust and friendship that, the two had openly denied earlier, passed between them. "Very well then."

Haku released a wave of senbons before settling once more into another mirror on the opposite side from where he was before to observe his prey.

Both boys escaped the last wave unscathed, well at least as much as they could, and sporting mocking grins, a smirk and a grin, on their faces as an opened challenge for Haku to give them his best shot.

"I got him. I _saw _him!" Sasuke spoke. Even if Naruto couldn't see the Uchiha's face seeing as how he had his back turned to him, Naruto could hear the happiness radiating from Sasuke's voice.

"Well that's dandy," Naruto sarcastically replied, earning him a slight—not so slight—elbow to the side of his back. "Ow...Stupid teme! Injured person here!"

"Pay attention dobe. Here he comes again."

Not so lucky this time around, Haku doubled the amount of senbons launched at the Leaf-nins and many broke through the barriers that had protected the two before.

_Shit..._Sasuke thought, both hands on his knees as he bent over to catch his breath. _I know I've unlocked Sharingan, 'cause I can feel it streaming through the veins in my eyes. However, it's taking too much chakra to maintain and after the last round of shooting my last Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu, I don't know how much longer I can last._

Sasuke turned his attention behind him to the blond Uzumaki who is also struggling to stand as he lean harshly on the wooden pole. The thing looked as if it'll break any moment now as it groans under the pressure. Still if he had compare their injuries, minus the fact that Naruto is still recovering from whatever it was that had injured him to the point of going into a coma, then the Uzumaki was still fairing much better than he was. Nodding to himself that it was because the Uzumaki came in later, so it was only obvious that he would be sporting fewer injuries than the Uchiha, Sasuke turned back around to assess the situation.

What Sasuke did not see, Haku witnessed from his position.

He had to admit, he was thoroughly impressed with the Konoha genins. In the first wave, the brunette had fired two or even three powerful "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" at him, if their enormous sizes were any indication, not only melting most of the needles, but also managing to singed the edge of his hakama. He wasn't so lucky the second wave though since the boy could barely produce one katon to defend himself like before. Peering closer at the boy's face—_Sasuke was it?_—Haku could make out the sudden difference in the boy's eyes that he hadn't noticed before. _Another Kekkei Genkai user_.

Haku turned his attention to the blond Konoha ninja who he had deduced was injured before their confrontation, since his obvious need to rely on either his teammate or the crutch to stand properly. Now this one impressed Haku even more. The boy had deflected every single one of his senbons that were aimed at him with just a kunai in his right hand while his left hand was burdened with the crutch supporting his weight. His accuracy and skill in handling his weaponry could rival that of a seasoned chūnin in his best condition. However, like his other teammate, the kid wasn't lucky the second time around and some of the needles hit its target. _Still_ _I need to pay closer attention to this one_.

Turning his attention from his battle to his master's battle, Haku could make out the struggle between Zabuza-san and the Kopī ninja. The ugly large gash on Zabuza-san's enemy spoke well how his master was fairing against the seemingly S-class-nin. _I need to finish here quickly to give Zabuza-san my assistance as his weapon._

Not taking his chances this time around, Haku decided that game time was over. Instead of aiming at mere flesh that wouldn't kill either genins like before and waiting for them to pass out from the pain and exhaustion, Haku aim to hit the same spot he had Zabuza to put both of them in death-like states.

* * *

In the large canopies of the woods, a large group of armed men is seen packing things away in preparation for their raid. "Everything is prepared and ready to go Gatō-san," the unnamed mercenary reported to a rather short and plump man who was sporting an expensively tailored business suit from Yuki no Kuni.

"Excellence," the shipping magnate grinned before barking out to one of the other mercenaries in the room, "Any news from either Waraji or Zōri?"

"No sir nothing at all."

"Those imbeciles," Gatō scowled in contempt, "I gave them one measly little task to capture me one of that foolish bridge builder's family member and they can't even get the job done right! No matter, we will proceed as plan. Let's move out!"

"We're moving out! Everyone on the ship!" One of Gatō's henchmen shouted to the other hundreds.

"Kekeke..." the tiny man crackled as he slowly wobbled out of the large mansion with his cane going '_clack—clack—clack'_ on the wooden floors. "They should have weakened each other by now. HAH! Demon of the Mist...more like fairy of the mist! Kekekeke!"

* * *

_This is can't be possible_. Naruto thought as he stared in shock at the limp body of the bastard in his arms. _Sasuke can't be dead...he just can't!_

-Flashback-

_Naruto and Sasuke prepared to defend themselves against the third wave of senbons that they were sure to come with the way the masked ninja tensed._

_However, unlike the attacks before, the hunter-nin actually left the confides of the ice mirror and shot directly towards the two unexpected genins, more specifically Naruto who Haku decided was the more dangerous one out of the two despite his disadvantage. _

_Seeing the hunter-nin aiming his weapons at Naruto, Sasuke only had a second thought before shoving the blond away from the path of the senbons that were meant to eliminate him. _

"_WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto yelled out as he lost his balance when Sasuke shoved him. Intending to turn around and scream at the brunette for his irrational move, Naruto froze in shock when he saw Sasuke crumbled to the ground after he was hit in the neck. "SASUKE!"_

_Abandoning the broken crutch, Naruto crawled with difficulty towards the fallen Uchiha and gathered the body into his arms. Naruto frantically felt around for a pulse, but only felt a small one that was growing weaker by the second. The weight that Naruto was pressing on Sasuke's chest was getting too much for him, so Sasuke let out a cough and groaned at the pain that spread throughout his body. _

"_Why the hell did you do that teme!" Naruto yelled directly into Sasuke's face, neither caring that some spit shot out of Naruto's mouth and hitting the pale boy's face._

"_Shut up usuratonkachi," Sasuke coughed his breath ragged with each intake of air, "you're too loud. I don't know why, but my body just moved on its own."_

"_Still! I never asked you to protect me stupid!" Naruto cried trying his best to keep the tears at bay._

"_God take in consideration—cough—of someone who is dying," Sasuke grunted blood making its way down the side of his mouth, "You know...I wanted to kill him before I die..."_

"_SHUT UP! YOU'RE NOT GO'NA DIE!"_

"_...I'm going to...rest my eyes now Naruto..." Sasuke slowly spoke as his eyes closed for the last time. "...don't you dare..."_

-End-

"Is this the first time you have seen a precious person die?" The masked shinobi directed the question at him while crouching low on the ground with his weapons bare and ready to take action. "This is what it means to be a shinobi."

Naruto whipped his head to face the hunter-nin, his eyes baring hatred and promising a world of pain. "SHUT UP!"

Right in front of Haku's eyes, Naruto began to hunch into a feral form over the unconscious body of his teammate. His eyes narrowed into slits and his pupils bleed from blue, to purple then finally a deep, blood red. Naruto's nails and teeth grew out a bit, taking the forms of claws and fangs, and the distinctive whisker marks on either side of his cheeks darkened.

Haku slowly backed away in alarm at the sudden change. _What is this demonic chakra? This can't be from the boy...what is he?_

It shocked Haku even more when Naruto started standing up—_I thought he was crippled!_—and slowly making his way towards the masked shinobi. _His injuries...they're all healed!_

Not taking his chances, Haku fled into the closest ice mirror and was lucky to have escape at the last second if the crater where he once stood was any indication.

_This is bad._

* * *

_Fuck!_ Kakashi cursed in his mind when he felt the demonic chakra of the Kyūbi leaking from the direction of the ice dome. _This is not what I signed up for when the stupid council forced me to take this job!_

Assured that the seal was only weakened and not the actual bijū coming out to greet the people of Nami no Kuni, Kakashi whipped out his summoning scroll and dragged his already blood drenched fingers across the black ink.

"Zabuza...I know you can hear me...neither of us have any time to spare, so let's cut to chase and end this game of hide and seek."

"Hmph!" Zabuza grunted giving one last glance in the direct of the evil chakra, before focusing on the moving form of Sharingan no Kakashi. "Prepare to reunite with your students in hell!" _You had better make it out alive, Haku!_

* * *

Haku narrowly dodged another swipe to the head as Naruto kept coming at him no matter how many times the mist ninja tried to knock him down.

_How can he keep coming back like this!_ Haku thought drained from maintaining the ice dome that began to crumble around them and trying to avoid the blond who does not seem human after the sudden transformation.

Haku tried to use the last amount of his chakra to body flicker away from the ragging genin when said genin appeared in front of his face.

_HOW?_

Naruto delivered a right hook to the porcelain mask, which sent Haku flying out of the ice dome and skipping on the concrete floors of the bridge like a skipping stone. Just like the ice mirrors, the porcelain mask shattered into pieces and revealed the smooth, pale face that was once hidden.

Haku could hear the steps of the blond genin as he stomps towards the fallen mist ninja. Knowing that his end is here, Haku closed his eyes and a single tear fell down the side of his face. _I'm sorry Zabuza-san._

Right as the stomps reached the side of his limp body, Haku resigned to his fate as he waited for the finishing blow...that never came.

"It's you."

Haku opened his eyes to stare back into an ocean of blue that was watching him with what looked like surprise, recognition, and confusion.

"...What do you mean..."

Before Haku could finish his sentence, both him and Naruto felt a surge of chakra coming from the fight between the two jōnin.

"NO!" Haku yelled out as he realized that the one in grave danger was his master. However, to his horror, Haku had no ounce of strength left to get up and protect Zabuza from harm. Haku laid there defeated, as he watch the chakra filled—_visible chakra_—hand was only inches away from Zabuza's heart before the technique suddenly died off before it had went for the kill. Haku released a breath he did not realized he had held through the agonizing scene, then turned towards the distraction that luckily had saved his master's life.

"Gatō," Zabuza growled at the midget business tycoon. "What is the meaning of this?"

Kakashi didn't want to take his chances in letting Zabuza go just yet, but he didn't see the need for his Sharingan anymore so he covered it once again while eyeing the little man on the other side of the bridge.

"You're still not dead yet?" Gatō scoffed, "you see the plan was, I was going to let these you ninjas fight to the death. That way I wouldn't need to pay you for your service."

Kakashi glanced over at the mist missing-nin from the corner of his eye and Zabuza gave him a slight nod, signaling that their fight was over. With the conformation, Kakashi recalled his ninkens and Zabuza retrieved his Kubikiribōchō.

While this was occurring, Gatō had his eyes closed and kept spouting his plans, not realizing that most of his men were backing away and quick as Kakashi and Zabuza slowly advanced towards them.

"...and since all of you are weakened after your battle, I can just kill you off with my army of mercenaries! Hahahaha!" Gatō crackled one last time before opening his eyes expecting to see the frightened look on the ninjas' faces.

What he didn't expect though was to be faced to faced with Zabuza who greeted him with a feral look in his eyes and a grin that really made him look like the demon he was known. "You and what army?"

Backing quickly away, Gatō quickly turned around to command his men to get rid of Zabuza only to find that he had been abandoned. Turning back to the still grinning Kirigakure no Kijin, Gatō gave him a weary smile. "Haha...I'll pay you three times! No...Ten! Ten times! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! AHHHHH!"

...And that was a very gruesome sight the villagers, who was rallied by Inari to come fight for their home, stumbled upon. Let's just say...not everyone kept their lunch in that evening and many more had nightmares that night.

* * *

Since Gatō's death, there was no more need for Haku and Zabuza to stay behind. After the helping Team 7 fix, the damage their battles made on the bridge, both missing-nins left without a trace. Luckily, Haku managed to inform Team 7 that he had only put Sasuke in a temporary death-like state and that he should be fine after a week's rest, before Sakura could bawl her eyes out at the sight of her unconscious crush.

It took a little over a week before Tazuna, with the help of the rest of the newly motivated villagers, finished the bridge and during that time, Sasuke made a full recovery.

At first, Naruto was questioned and fussed at by Sakura and Tsunami over his injuries and how is he standing on his own when just that morning, he was limping even with the help of the crutches. It seems that his injuries were miraculously cured and Kakashi luckily saved the poor confused boy from the females after he deemed the Uzumaki was tortured enough.

Now it was early morning, 3 weeks since the entire mission began, that Team 7 is ready to head back on the road to return to their own homes in Konohagakure.

"Bye Naruto-nii-san!" Inari cried, tears spilling over like waterfalls on his face as he hugged the older man. Naruto smiled fondly down at the sight of the 8-year-old boy whom had grown on him in the past week since the faithful battles on the now finished bridge.

At first Naruto was surprised and a bit annoyed with the kid, when he would not stop following Naruto wherever he went even when he deliberately tried to hide from the brat. After the third day, Naruto gave in and just allowed the kid to tag along. That day, Naruto also gained a very close friend for life.

"This won't be the last time we'll see one another Inari-kun!" Naruto reassured the kid, who looked up from rubbing his face in Naruto's chest with snot hanging from his nose. _Ew..._

"You promise?" Inari sniffed stepping back into his mother's arms. The whole village deciding to see their heroes off that morning even if dawn barely broke.

"Yeah I promise!" Naruto grinned at the kid who took the liberty to grin back as they fist bumped, their promise sealed. "And I don't ever go back on my promises!"

Deciding that it was time to head out, Kakashi turned towards his team, "Alright let's go home team."

Team 7 said their last goodbyes before following Kakashi into the surround forest.

Just before they were out of hearing range, the members turned to smile at their blushing blond teammate after they heard what the name of the bridge would be:

"Grandpa! I want to name the bridge after Naruto-nii-san!" Inari demanded, "It was him who gave me to courage to rally the villagers to defend our home! And also he saved mom and me from the mercenaries!"

"HAHAHAHA," Tazuna laughed, his face red from the morning round of sake, "Sure! How about 'THE GREAT NARUTO BRIDGE'? Ehh ehh? Sounds great right?"

"That sounds wonderful father," Tsunami smiled, happy that her family and friends can finally live in peace once again. _Thank you Naruto-kun. Thank you for everything._

* * *

A quarter ways home, Sasuke suddenly remembered something that he never had a chance to get an answer for.

"Hey Naruto," Sasuke called out to the blond who was skipping up ahead, excited to see Konoha for the first time since his memory loss.

"Yeah?"

"You never told me how you knew who Haku was even though that was the first time you have ever seen him."

Kakashi perked up at the information. That was something he hadn't been informed when the boys briefed him of their battle with the Hyōton user.

"Eh...Actually I can't remember." Naruto deadpanned as he reached up to scratch the back of his head laughing.

"Usuratonkachi..."

"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME TEME?"

"DON'T CALL SASUKE-KUN THAT!"

"OW! MEMORY LOSS! MEMORY LOSS!"

Kakashi shook his head at the stupidity that he called his team. Well at least they were back to normal even with Naruto's lack of memories. Kakashi decided that someone must really hate him up there, never to know that a certain deity was laughing his head off at the comedy group known as Team 7.

* * *

A/N: You can see that the battle between Naruto and Haku is a bit un-canon because:

1. They never met in the forest this time around, so Haku doesn't have a connect with Naruto like they did before

2. Naruto lost his memories...everything. From the people he interacts with daily to his -frankly pretty limited- arsenal of ninjutsu, he can't do taijutsu either since he was pretty crippled until the Kyūbi's chakra leaked, and we all know how horrible Naruto is with genjutsu, so that was out of the question. He was practically useless to Sasuke-_SASUKE DID NOT WITNESS NARUTO'S AWESOME DISPLAY OF BUKIJUTSU (Art of Weapons)-_and even Naruto admit he was pretty useless

3. Naruto exhausted Haku during his transformed state, so that is why Haku never had the chance to really interfere in between Kakashi and Zabuza-not that he really needed to

**XXX** Ninja Techniques** XXX**

- Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shadow Clone Technique; B-rank

- Kirigakure no Jutsu: Hiding in Mist Technique; D-rank

- Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique; C-rank

******XXX** Weapons****** XXX**

- Senbons: Metal needles often used for medical purposes

- Kubikiribōchō: Zabuza's sword; a massive broadsword

- Kunai: Black dagger

- Kibaku Fuda: Explosive tags

**********XXX** Terms********** XXX**

- Kopī Ninja no Kakashi: Copy Ninja Kakashi

- Kirigakure no Kijin: Demon of the Mist

- Hyōton: Ice Release

- Sharingan: Copy Wheel Eye

- hakama: Traditional Japanese pants that are usually worn over the kimono

- Yuki no Kuni: Land of the Snow

- Nami no Kuni: Land of the Wave

**XXX**

If anyone has any question, feel free to leave a review or message me and I will be happy to answer!


End file.
